


Landwalkers

by Skindoodles, theuncertainauthor



Category: Voltron - Fandom
Genre: Allura - Freeform, Ethan - Freeform, Hunay, M/M, Pidge - Freeform, Shiro - Freeform, Voltron, Zion, all my hard work, ashllynne, hunk - Freeform, keith - Freeform, klance, lance - Freeform, landwalkers, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-04 12:32:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11555271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skindoodles/pseuds/Skindoodles, https://archiveofourown.org/users/theuncertainauthor/pseuds/theuncertainauthor
Summary: Keith is deadLance had scalesLiterally everyone is deadHahahah





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I've been working with my two friends bliss and mii I can't express how much they have helped me so here u go

"Shit I'm late, I'm so late." Lance thought as he swam past a reef. He sped up, angling himself to go deeper under. He twisted around to check that nothing in his bag had come loose. "The princess is going to be so mad if I can't make it in time." He saw the castle from a ways away. His friend Hunk waved from the distance, urging him to hurry. The chef was brandishing a knife and a root vegetable, very threatening.  
"Hold your halibut Hunk, I'm coming." He called with a laugh. He wouldn't be needed until the end of the procession but his role was an important one. Hopefully his absence wouldn't be noticed. He quickly arrived and was escorted through a series of halls. Down the last stretch he saw the balcony and instantly felt apprehensive, what if they noticed him, he needed this job, it's the only one he's ever had. Hunk gave him a reassuring pat only the shoulder.  
"It's okay, it's only been a few doboshes; the princess-uh-er-queen won't be mad." He whispered to Lance.  
He took a deep breath and reached for his bag; then drew out six crystals ranging in size. Their blue color instantly lit the dim hall.  
"Thanks bud, see you on the other side." they both nodded and he swam through. A group of thousands greeted him, he had never seen this many mers at once. For good reason too; the coronation would be the event of the century. The beloved princess Allura would finally become queen. And he could not miss it.  
"You're late." A voice hisses at him.  
"Calm down Ashllynne, it's two minutes." Allura's personal guard glared at him, disapproval evident in her gaze.  
"The later you are the later we can run this show."  
He held the crystals into her face, willing her to make a snide remark.  
"Well I just thought he you needed these." She balked at the size mere size of the crystals, most mers couldn't find one bigger than a fingernail, his ranged roughly around two inches in diameter.  
"It better not happen again." She muttered. He swam to hover bedside the princess, ignoring Ashllynne's heavy gaze.  
"Hello Lance." Allea whispered with a smile "Glad you could make it."  
He giggled and responded with a light tap of their fins together. A Druid floated in front of her, reading from a book that glowed golden with a light that crystals just couldn't give you. Thankfully they could find one that didn't have allegiance to the other kingdoms. When he gestured Lance gave him a crystal, simple, hopefully. Ever since the attacks he just couldn't be sure. Luckily they had made it at least halfway through in the hour he had been politely smiling and floating, when a single boat passed overheard, they were about five hundred feet down so it wasn't a threat. They still paused and all held their breath.  
"Lance. If we're attacked, go to Zion." Allura murmured.  
"No princess, we need to protect you; besides, Ash would kill me."  
She gave him a sad look and continued.  
"He's your son, I'll cover for you." He softly laughed, the idea of her covering for him somewhat amusing to him.  
"Fine, but just stay out of trouble."  
The ceremony continued uneventfully, thank Xai.

"Princess Allura will now give the oath of office." The Druid announced, handing her three of the crystals. She held them in her left hand while her right went over her heart.  
"I, Princess Allura, pledge to uphold the laws of this kingdom, and to end this war how Xai intended us to, peacefully and swiftly." There might've been more but he wasn't listening past that. Her comment about Zion rubbed his scales the wrong way. His son was at home, as normal; most mers didn't want to interact with someone who died so young. He had found his Zuzu mangled at the bottom of the ocean. Lance had stayed through his transition to mer and adopted him as his own. His contact had been limited to him and a few friends so he wouldn't know where to go if the town had been attacked. The thought made him tremble, he was only seven and no one would help him. He shook the thought from his mind, choosing to focus on her speech. He heard the words, they just wouldn't register in his brain. Obviously his plight showed because Ash came up and drew him away.  
"You okay?"  
He took a deep breath, "Yeah I'll be good now, thanks."  
She let him go and nodded.  
"Is it Zion?"  
"Yeah. I'm afraid if they attack.... he won't know where to go y'know, he doesn't get around much....."  
She gave him a tight squeeze with her lavender tail that encouraged him enough.  
"Now get out there and look pretty." She said with a smirk. He smiled and swam back. Allura had finished and the Druid had brought out a elegant crown, placing it on her head. He spoke a few words and the crowd cheered.  
"Now let me be the first to address our new Queen Allura!" Even Lance clapped and whistled. He took her arm and led her off the balcony. She sqealed as soon as they were out of sight.  
"Lance, I'm Queen! I'm Queen of Altea! Oh my quiznak!"  
"Watch your language! Coran might hear!" He scolded but still grinned like a fool.  
"Lance, I'm queen; I can say whatever I want! Eeeeek!" He played along and rolled his eyes.  
"I knoooow; you're queen." She hurried ahead and sobered with a fake act of royalty.  
"As my personal servant, I order you to tell the head chef to prepare a feast." She said regally before dissolving into a puddle of laughter, bubbles rising.  
As if on cue, Hunk appeared excitedly around the corner.  
"Queen Allura!" They embraced warmly.  
"Oh Hunk, I'll always just be Allura to you!"  
The trio quickly glided through the castle, savoring the time before she had to appear before the crowd.  
"So Coran told me that a pod of whales is gonna pass by next week!"  
"Whales are my favorite!" Lance exclaimed.  
Hunk smiled and agreed.  
Allura turned back and took his hands.  
"Hey Lance?"  
"Yeah 'Lura?"  
"I know you already had to get crystals today...." She said, drawing out her words. "But can you get just one more? For the ball?"  
He rolled his eyes and exchanged a look with Hunk.  
"How could you possibly use a crystal for a ball, unless? Allura wants to find a boyyyyfriend~." Lance said semi-flirtatiously. Crystal-giving was an old tradition for Altean marriage proposals.  
"Don't tease me! It's-it's for the good of the kingdom." She protested, blushing.  
Hunk giggled and added on.  
"Maybe she want to marry you Lance; there have been rumors."  
They both flushed and uttered "As if." at the same time.  
"Will you pleeeeaase just get one?"  
"Fine, but only because you're queen today."  
Allura did a little dance with tiny fist-pumps when Coran came around the corner.  
"Oh hello boys, Prin-Queen Allura! What are you doing?" He asked, appalled.  
"Uh? A victory dance?"  
He rolled his eyes and scolded her, quickly leading her away.  
Watching her glistening rainbow tail disappear the boys held back their laughter. Ever since her father died Coran had turned into a mother duck, following her around and smothering her.  
"Alright, I have to get to the kitchens; catch you later." Hunk said, heading down the hall.  
"M'kay bud."  
He sat for a second in thought, before he headed off to get the crystal.  
He sped toward the shore, other mers could only find small ones because of more than one reason. First, most mer didn't have enough quintessence to free a larger on from the sea floor. Two, they didn't know where to look. The average towns-goer would naturally stay away from the sandbar, of course, past that was the land and no one wanted to go there; that's where the Landwalkers live. Sure you could argue that they should live in peace with the Landwalkers; that they were codependent species. Most mer did start as them after all, they just died at sea, for various reasons. Lance wouldn't know about that, seeing as he was born mer. They did not live in peace though. To them being mer was a sin and they would purge the world from it..... or something. He was the only one willing to go anywhere near the shore. That's where he found the best crystals.


	2. Cliff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance HAS to get them balmeran crystals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this toook a loooooooong time

Lance swished through the water and scanned the sea floor,  
"There Was a deposit of them somehow around here" he muttered to himself. He let the tips of his fins rake through the sand, letting the peace of the water settle him. They couldn't have just disappeared right? Several smaller stones passed his vision but he didn't feel enough energy to be big enough for what he needed.   
"Just appear! Fucking ugh" he yelled as if they would obey him and find him. He really wanted to help Allura but he need a to get home to His son. He loved his job but... he hated the fact that Zuzu was home alone, at least Pidge checked up on him sometimes. It's not like he could quit if he wanted to anyway. He hummed as he floated through the salty waters, he should give up and look somewhere else. The brine lake, despite (well more like because of) its unsavory-ness usually was pretty populated with the small stones.   
He was about to turn when he heard a noise, no. He Felt the noise. A disturbance. His head whipped around as he searched for what it could be. It was unnatural. He didn't like the feeling on his skin. It felt like when Pidge's laptop shorted out. Electric? Yeah that's what landwalkers call it.   
Something was moving, jerky, rapidly. Then, as suddenly as it began, it stopped.   
"What the fuck" he whispered to himself. He started to swim away, still searching, when the thought hit him: Sharks. No. They never come out of galra territory, much less the sand bar. If they had caught something big enough.... No it can't be a shark. That's final. Still.....   
He made a shrill whistle with his teeth, a ward evil sound, if you believe in that religious stuff.   
Slowly making his way through the shallow water. Lance decided if it really Was a shark he should learn as much as he can to report back. Yeah. That's it.   
His stomach was scraping the sand as he pulled himself forward.   
"Just.....a little. ....... more"   
He stopped. There was something in the water. Metallic. Ugh. What IS that stench. It swirled around and enveloped everything. His whole body rejected it. Like the electric it felt unnatural. It doesn't belong here. The water was getting deeper the closer he got. It was several meters deep by now.   
"I need to get out of this, if I get out of this Xai I promise I'll...... I'll..... I don't know. Get religion? Worship you ? Whatever just don't let me get eaten by a shark."  
A small fish spun around his head before rushing away.  
"What's up little guy"  
His rushed manner just unnerved Lance even more. Small eddies in the water faded as Lance crept around a small turn and what he saw made his stomach turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys check out the new official insta with some shitty art! @skindoodles_from_a_o_3 or something along those lines


	3. Newcomer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A newcomer arrives...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! If you remember in the first chapter how the original creator said she was working with her friends, Bliss and Mii...well, I'm Mii, aka theuncertainauthor. I realize that this hasn't been updated in a long time, so here's a chapter for you!

Lance's heart stopped and his stomach flipped. A boy about his age hit the ocean floor. He had blood spiraling up out of him stomach and he had chains around his wrists and ankles with metal balls on the ends of them. He was struggling to get up; the balls were too heavy. He tried to gasp for breath, but instead sucked in a lung full of water. He coughed and sucked in more water. Lance could see his strength draining as he drowned. With a sudden burst of adrenaline, Lance pushed forward and grabbed the boy, trying to propel him to the surface. The boy's eyes drifted to Lance's, the light fading out of them, and he knew he was too late. He slowly let the boy back down onto the sand and grasped his hand as a light started to bloom from his chest. Lance knew what to do; he had done this when he found Zion. The boy writhed in pain as his legs started to melt together, his trousers and undergarments fading. The chains around his ankles fell off; they were preventing his ankles from fully transforming, and they snapped under the pressure. Lance worked quickly to unlock the shackles from around his wrists. Once they were off, the transformation started to spread upwards. Scales bloomed into the flesh around his waist before tapering off into milky white skin, his gills formed, and his weird human ears grew and shaped into fin-like extremities that were capable of hearing. His teeth sharpened into points for hunting. His eyes changed to become accustomed to the dark ocean, and his skin got a little bit thicker for the cold. Lance gripped his hand as the transformation from human to mer finally finished. The boy's eyes shot open and he sucked in breath, coughing when he realized it was water. He ripped his hand away from Lance as he shot backwards, inhaling deeply. His eyes were wide, and his fins that replaced his ears were flicking back and forth every few seconds, showing that he was panicked. He looked Lance up and down, seemingly unable to comprehend the mer in front of him. He then looked down at himself and screeched, a high pitched sound that mers used to signal their distress. The boy tumbled over himself, still shrieking. Lance's ears started to flicked as he crooned, trying to soothe the boy. It worked immensely with Zion, but not so much with him. It worked a little bit, he stopped shrieking, but he was still panicking. Lance shot forward and enveloped the boy in a hug. He froze, but eventually relaxed when Lance started to croon softly into his fin. "What's wrong with me?" The boy whispered to Lance. Lance gave him a small smile. "You've turned. Here, swim with me while I find something and we'll talk." Lance started to swim away, the boy on his tail. He started to search for a crystal as he explained. "When a human dies in water, they turn into a mer, like me. But very few of us were humans first. My son, Zion, died. I was there for his transformation just I was for yours." Lance took a deep breath before continuing. He hoped Zion was okay. "The transformation from human to mer is very painful, as I'm sure you remember." The boy winced. "Your...legs...melt together to form your tail, your skin gets thicker to protect you from the cold, your lungs stop working and you form gills, and your teeth get sharper so you can hunt effectively. A lot of different things happen." Lance smiled widely,showing off his teeth. His eyes lit up as they landed on the biggest crystal he'd ever seen. It had to be about six inches in diameter. It was smooth and oval shaped. Allura would LOVE it. He grabbed the boy's hand and started to propel himself away. The boy followed. "Where are we going?" He questioned, struggling to keep up with Lance. "You're going back to my house. I'm going to the palace."  
"Palace?"  
"The Queen is a friend of mine. It's her coronation today and she asked me to find her a crystal so she could find a mate."  
"Mate?"  
"Kind of like a lover, just forever."  
"Why do I stay at your house? Why can't I come?"  
"Because you're new, and I won't be long. I'm not staying for the ball afterwards, I have Zion to take care of."  
The boy was silent after Lance's last answer. "What's your name?" Lance asked, bringing him to the door of his home. "Keith." The boy answered softly, not meeting Lance's eyes. "Great, I'm Lance," He said as he opened the door. He was immediately attacked by a small form. "Zion!" Lance exclaimed, lifting the small child up into his arms. "Daddy!" Zion cried, his small, chubby hands on the sides of Lance's face as he bumped their foreheads together. "Zuzu, this is Keith. He's a friend of mine, and he'll stay with you until I come back really soon, okay?" Zion nodded, his eyes sad. "We'll go to the reef when I get back and we'll have Uncle Hunk cook your favourite dinner tonight, okay?" Zion nodded more enthusiastically. Lance kissed him on the forehead. "Awesome! I'll be back soon, I promise." And just like that, he was gone. Zion reached up and took Keith's hands showing him to his room. "This is Misty," Zion explained, pointing towards a catfish. "She sleeps in my room." He then pointed to a cluster of mer soldier action figures. "I like to play with these. Daddy normally plays with me, but he's not here. Will you?" Zion looked up at Keith with big eyes. Keith smiled softly, nodding. 

"Pri-Queen Allura! I have your crystal!" Lance exclaimed as he shoved it into her hand. He quickly wrapped his fail around hers before darting off towards the kitchens. "Hunk! Bud, I need Zion's favorite for three people, please." Hunk looked at Lance, about to snap at him and say he was busy, but then he saw the panicked look in his eyes. He snapped his fingers and another chef came over to prepare what Hunk was doing. Without half an hour, Hunk was handing Lance food. "Thank you so much. I really owe you one!" Lance yelled over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner. Hunk shook his head, smiling as he finished preparing a portion of the feast.

The door opened and Zion shot up and around the corner with a cry of "Daddy! You're home!" Keith slowly got up and swam around the doorway, still not really used to having a tail instead of legs. "Hey, buddy! Yeah, I am!" Lance chuckled. "And I got your favourite!" Zion gasped with happiness, sticking his head in the bag. "You do!"  
"I do!" Lance exclaimed, smiling as he tickled Zion's stomach. Zion gasped with laughter before Lance stopped. Once he did, Zion swam to Keith and brought him to Lance. Now that Keith had time to look at Lance, his heart flipped. Caramel coloured skin, dark brown hair, full lips that were stretched into a smile. And his eyes. Bright, electric blue eyes. "Hey, Keith. How was it?" Lance asked. Keith's mouth was dry, despite being underwater. "Nice," He got out. Lance nodded, then turned to Zion. "You ready to go, bud?" Zion eagerly nodded, taking Lance's unoccupied hand in his. Keith followed after, his heart stopping as he realized. 'Dammit.' He thought. 'I have a crush on Lance, don't I?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, X, if you're reading this, I'm sorry we haven't talked in a while. I really miss you guys. I'm sorry if this isn't exactly what we planned on doing with this, but you haven't updated in a while, so I hope you don't mind that I made a chapter.
> 
> I miss you. Sincerely, Mii.


	4. Lucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a nice, lighthearted night with a TON of pining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. So, I might be posting a lot more often now that school is out, but I also have band camp and work, so maybe not that often, but more often hopefully.
> 
> Sincerely, Mii

They swam in silence until Zion requested Lance to sing. Normally, he would have, but Keith was here. Granted, he didn't think Keith was paying attention to him, but he was still there. "N-No, Zuzu, not right now," Lance said. He thought that was the end of it, but boy was he wrong. Zion kept begging until Lance gave in. "Okay, fine, I'll sing if you stop asking."

Keith was looking all around as they swam. Being underwater was so beautiful. There was life moving around then all the time; it seemed as if the ocean itself was alive. But he was really watching Lance. The way his body moved, how his back muscles tightened with every flick of his tail. He wondered if mers could blush. But he quickly found out. An angelic voice filled the water around them, singing softly enough so only Zion and Keith would hear. "Do you hear me? Talking to you. Across the water, across the deep blue ocean. Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying." The tips of Keith's fins-ears started to burn; he quickly swam a bit faster to cool them down. He guessed his face was red too. "Lucky I'm in love with my best friend, lucky to have been where I have been, lucky to be coming home again." Time seemed to pass faster when Lance was singing. "-move so pretty, you're all I see. As the world keeps spinning round, you hold me right here, right now." Keith couldn't take much more of this. His face was burning. And then the song was over. He missed Lance's singing, even if it made his fingers itch to intertwine with Lance's. Then they were at their destination. It was colourful; a reef. Fish swam in and out of holes in the coral. He wasn't paying enough attention, so he barely saw Lance's tail flicker past some coral. Keith followed, suddenly deciding that blue was his favorite colour. He turned the corner and found the two laying on a hill overlooking the castle. Lance was talking to Zion and pointing at castle. Zion was fidgeting excitedly where he was sitting, and Keith swam over to sit next to Zion. "Really? Like--" Zion made an explosion sound, and Lance laughed. "Yeah! Like that!" Keith guessed they were talking about fireworks. Keith smiled as he remembered his first 4th of July with Shiro. Shiro had shown Keith how to use a sparkler and Shiro would set off the fireworks, Keith watching in facination. Shiro. Where was he? Probably looking for Keith. Shiro had been on the Galra ship with Keith when Keith was shackled, stabbed, and thrown into the ocean. "Keef!" Keith was snapped out of his thoughts when Zion patted his hand. "Wha-what?" Keith stuttered. Lance snickered behind his hand and Keith sideways glared at Lance before turning his attention to Zion. "Yeah, buddy?" Keith asked with interest, waiting for Zion to speak. He seemed to be debating a question before asking. "Never mind," He decided. "Why aren't you going to ask him?" Lance asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Because it might be mean," Zion told Lance, fixing his attention on the grassy seaweed. "It's okay, bud. You can ask me," Keith encouraged. Despite him never taking a liking to many people, Keith had always loved children. Zion slowly nodded before asking. "What was the land like?" Keith felt his breath hitch, and he saw concern and worry flit across Lance's features. "It was a lot different than this. You breathed air, you had to eat cooked food, you had legs--" Zion cocked his head in confusion. "Legs?" Keith nodded, pointing down to his tail. "It was like a tail, but it separated down the middle," He ran his finger down the middle of his tail, "And there weren't scales, it was skin, like up here." He poked Zion's stomach, drawing a giggle out of the young boy. "And then we didn't have fins, but feet. Which were kind of like hands," Keith finished. "What did you do with them?" Zion asked. Keith guessed that Zion had been dropped down into the ocean at a very early age. "We walked!" Keith exclaimed, widening his eyes. "Walked?" Zion asked, the word unfamiliar on his tongue. "Yeah, like...like this." Keith turned himself upright before flipping around so he was walking on his hands. Zion squealed and giggled, clapping his hands. Keith smiled at Zion before flipping back around and sitting next to Zion again. Keith tried to ignore how Lance had been watching him with an open facination. Lance snapped out of his daze before pointing at the castle. "Look, the fireworks are about to start!" Zion wiggled excitedly in place, crawling onto Keith's lap. Keith held him there, trying to ignore how Lance scooted closer, and definitely not realizing that to any passerby, they look like a happy family watching the fireworks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enioyed! I'll be with you guys in the next chapter!
> 
> Also the song Lance was singing is Lucky by Jason Mraz


	5. Pidgeon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is the softest boi  
> Keith is the most vulnerable boi  
> And Zion is the most tired boi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so I finally think I'm getting my life back on track

Landwalkers

"Ugh" Keith grunted, just waking up. "My he-" He was cut by an incredible weight on his chest. He went for a deep breath; water. It was in his nose, his eyes, his lungs. He tried to call for help, for anyone. He couldn't; he couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He was going to die here. "Please," he thought, "I just need someone, anyone, I don't want to die here in the dark."  
As if an answer to his prayer, a light appeared, in the face of a boy. He was glowing. He touched his fingers to Keith's neck and suddenly he wasn't struggling for air. "Am I dead?" Keith whispered.  
The boy laughed.  
"Yes, you are."  
He must have been amused at the horrified look on Keith's face, because he smiled before saying,  
"But it's okay, I've got you."  
Keith's eyes grew wide and he blushed; he couldn't remember the last time anyone was this nice to him.  
So he really was dead.  
"Daddy! Daddy! Come oooooon!" He heard a child's voice. Zion, he was here. Keith was at the strange boy's house. He had been for days. He couldn't help but shake the feeling he wasn't supposed to be.  
"It's gonna burn Dad! Help!"  
The boy laughed and Keith saw the light leave; he wanted to follow it. He tried to put one leg over the side of the bed. His legs. God, when would he get used to this? Honestly, he hoped he wouldn't have to get used to it. Sleeping horizontally did have its downfalls. Keith used his arm to push himself up. A doorway led to a slightly-brightly lit room. He had been there a while but the lights still took his breath away. Thousands upon thousands of small rocks embedded in the ceiling of the house, or cave-ish. House-shaped rock. Anyway, they were one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen.  
There on the ground, Zion was playing with a toy boat, or what was supposed to be a boat. It was more a flat piece of oval-ish wood from their perspective, he guessed.  
"It's burning dad!" Zion cried once more. A mer Keith had taken to calling 'Green', though he was sure she had a real name, was floating nearby with a semi-uncomfortable face and anxious hands.  
"Hey, can we...not....do...this," She mumbled, gesturing to the entire scene. The boy slowly grasped the boat and took it from the small hands.  
"Now Zion," He said in the soft voice he used for Zion and Zion only. "You know aunt Pidge has bad memories with burning boats, we have to respect that."  
"Sorry Auntie Pidge," Zion said, still obviously wanting to play with his boat.  
"How about we play with something else for a while?" Said the soft voice. "Boats are morbid anyway."  
"Fiiiine" Zion said, rolling his eyes and finally spotting Keith.  
"KEEF!" He yelled, quickly launching toward the still-shaken boy.  
"H-hey Zion, good morning."  
The small child seemed too strong as he pulled Keith around, showing him toys and such. Green participated too sometimes, but mostly she just watched. It must have been hours they spent playing before it was time for Zion's nap.  
"I'm waay too old for this!" He protested. "I should have stopped naps years ago!"  
Again the soft voice spoke, "It's because you're still growing and growing boys need sleep. Besides I don't care how old you are, you get cranky."  
"Do not," Zion muttered before going into his room. More for sulking than sleeping, Keith guessed.  
"I have to go out for a bit, can you guys hold down the fort?" The boy said with a smile.  
"Sure, why not," Green said carelessly.  
The boy looked at Keith, expecting an answer. Keith looked away and mumbled something along the lines of "Whatever works."  
"Alrighty, I'll be back in two flicks of a smarmy sea toad's tongue!" Keith looked quizzically at Green, but she just shrugged. They floated in silence for what felt like hours, but could only be minutes. Keith felt uncomfortable, like she was looking right through him.  
"S-so, boat and fire, eh?" He said experimentally.  
She froze, tail going rigid and unnatural. Slowly, she looked up from whatever gadget she was tinkering with.  
"I'll let it slide since you're new, but it's incredibly rude to ask how someone died, and yes, I was researching bioflorecent wildlife and my boat had an electrical shortage that made it catch fire. Are. You. Happy. Now. " she said very forcefully.  
"I'm sorry," He mumbled, barely audible.  
"There is so much I still don't know," he thought to himself.  
But he didn't plan on staying long enough to find out.


End file.
